Leave Her Alone
by Fading Butterfly Wings
Summary: Flik may have screwed up Hopper's plan to regain control of the colony, but then a certain small princess stumbles into the grasshopper's clutches and he's not going to let her go until he has what he wants. Re-imagined ending to A Bug's Life, inspired by a piece of concept art.
1. Chapter 1

**Title subject to change. Inspired by a piece of concept art that depicts the final scene of _A Bug's Life_ a little differently than the way we know it. Enjoy :)**

 **~FBW**

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The ground below was in utter chaos. Ants and circus bugs ran about, smashing berries onto their bodies and screaming in pretend fear. Grasshoppers dove this way and that, avoiding the "bloody" bugs and screaming in genuine terror as they ducked for cover. Flik even spotted Hopper among them, hiding behind Molt as though willing to sacrifice his younger brother in order to spare his own life from the bird swooping over their heads.

Flik let out a triumphant laugh as he watched them cower. Why hadn't they thought of this idea long ago?

He was so busy reveling in his glory that he didn't notice what was happening behind him; didn't realize that the Blueberries' cries were ones of fear, not excitement.

"Flik, help us!"

Flik turned around at the sound of Dot's plea. Red and yellow light engulfed his vision, nearly blinding him. His mouth dropped open and quickly filled with smoke, causing him to choke. Tears swam in his eyes.

His beautiful creation, the only invention of his that seemed like it was actually going to work, was on fire.

 _How did this happen?_ was his first thought, but he couldn't dwell on it for long. The little ants' safety was his first priority. They weren't even supposed to be here in the first place, but plans had changed when the grasshoppers invaded.

He leaped from his seat and pushed past Dot to reach the emergency lever Rosie had insisted they install while he was drawing up the bird's framework. "Better safe than sorry," the black widow had said to the skeptical ant. Flik sure as hell was thankful he had listened to her now as he pulled down as hard as he could, the Blueberries crowding around him like a terrified cluster of grapes.

"Grab onto something!" he ordered them, and then he heard a snap.

The world lurched and Flik's feet left the floor. Strong gusts of air whistled past his antennae as the bird began its descent. Gripping the lever for dear life, he looked around to see the girls hugging the branches that controlled the wings. He couldn't help thinking that even if they survived the crash, they might not survive the grasshoppers' wrath once they knew the truth.

 _"Flik!"_

He looked up just in time to see Dot lose her grip on the chair she was holding. A second later the wind was knocked from his body as the tiny ant crashed into his chest.

Flik struggled to breathe as he wrapped his arm around Dot to keep her from flying into the flames behind them. He was reminded of another time he had held her like this, when they were being chased by a real bird instead of falling inside a fake one.

"It's gonna be okay, Dot," he managed to say between gasps, and then they hit ground.

The impact sent them flying. Flik did his best to shield Dot's head as they collided with the chair he had been steering from moments before. Pain sliced through his skull and his vision went blurry. His antennae roared with the crackle of flames as he tried unsuccessfully to catch his breath.

Suddenly he felt small arms pushing against his.

"Let me go, Flik!" Dot cried.

He dazedly obeyed and the princess scrambled to her feet. Her fellow Blueberries were scattered around the floor, coughing and crying out for their parents. Dot ran to the nearest one and yanked her to her feet, her blue eyes blazing with a fire that had nothing to do with the inferno around her.

"Pull yourselves together, girls!" she barked, moving on to the next one. "Remember our training! This is no time to lose your heads!"

Flik watched in amazement as Dot flitted to each of her friends, shouting commands and offering a hand to the ones that needed it. In less than a minute all of the little ants were on their feet, blinking away tears and covering their mouths to keep from inhaling the smoke like Dot had instructed them to do.

"Alright Blueberries, let's move it!" she cried, waving her hand like a starting flag. "Single file line, out of the bird. Go go go!"

For a second Flik forgot it was Dot who was speaking, her tone of authority reminded him so much of Atta's when she was ordering the colony into the anthill before the grasshoppers arrived. It wasn't until all the Blueberries had evacuated and her freckled face was a centimeter from his that he remembered it was Atta's little sister giving the orders.

"Come on Flik, we have to go!" Dot's fingers were tugging on his and her voice sounded much more small and afraid now that she no longer had to be the leader.

Flik squeezed his eyes shut and allowed Dot to help him to his feet. As soon as he was upright a surge of dizziness overcame him and he stumbled forward, nearly falling over the princess. He clutched his throbbing head and opened his eyes to see two purple ants in front of him, their eyes wide with worry.

"You go, Dot!" he said, pointing in what he hoped was the direction of the beak. "I'll be right behind you!"

She hesitated only a moment before nodding. "Hurry, Flik," she whispered, then scampered away.

Alone inside the fiery ruins of his masterpiece, Flik grabbed his antennae and attempted to focus his eyes while brainstorming ways to deal with the fury of the grasshoppers that surely awaited him outside. Maybe most of them had flown away already, or maybe Hopper would be so relieved it wasn't a real bird he would be able to laugh off the whole thing as a cruel practical joke. Maybe the circus bugs could pass it off as the dramatic finale of their show. Maybe…

His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar scream from outside. His eyes widened with horror.

Dot.


	2. Chapter 2

**I apologize for the extremely long wait and the shortness of this chapter considering said wait and I thank each and every reader/reviewer from the bottom of my heart for sticking with this silly little story (especially the last reviewer - you really inspired me to update this. You and the audio version of _A Bug's Life_ I listened to on Spotify the other night because I'm still mentally 5 years old). My goal for this story is for it to be the first "long" fic that I actually finish and reviews will really help encourage me in that process ;) Love you guys and hope you enjoy!**

 **-FBW**

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Hundreds of eyes were on her as she dangled from Hopper's hand. She whimpered as he swung her about, displaying her for all the colony to see. She could see the anger in some of the circus bugs' eyes – Francis and Dim's, especially – but that anger was dulled by an even stronger emotion: fear.

" _Whose idea was this?"_ Hopper roared. "Huh?"

His demand was answered by wide eyes and quivering knees. The ants may have been terrified, but Dot knew it would take much more than verbal interrogation for them to betray Flik. For that, she was proud. But where was her friend? Was he still in the bird? Did he make it out okay?

She tried to send him a telepathic message. _Whatever happens, Flik, stay hidden._ Who knew what Hopper would do if he found out who the mastermind behind the bird had been?

Apparently, he was determined to do just that. When no one offered a name, the grasshopper turned his attention to Atta. "Was it yours, Princess?" he sneered, stalking toward her like a spider cornering its prey.

Dot watched as Atta ushered the other Blueberries behind her. "Just get behind me girls, it'll be okay," she reassured them bravely as Hopper advanced. Her eyes met Dot's and they seemed to whisper the same comfort. _It'll be okay._

It wasn't until Hopper was within an inch of her sister that he spoke again, in a low, eerily soothing voice that seemed to be meant only for Atta. "Who was it, sweetheart, huh?" he said, reached out a clawed finger to stroke the side of her face. She shuddered at his touch but stood her ground, lips pursed firmly. The Blueberries watched this exchange with frightened eyes.

"Come on Princess, you can tell me." Hopper implored her, in a voice that was almost a whisper now. "We come, we eat, we leave, right? Just give me the name and no one will get hurt. It's that simple."

Atta's eyes flickered to the tiny ant hanging at his side. Hopper noticed, and a grin of realization spread across his cruel face. "Oh, I see," he said, taking a step backward. Dot felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach as her sister's eyes widened with horror at her mistake.

"No! Put her down, Hopper. She had _nothing_ to do with this," Atta pleaded, stretching out her arm as though reaching for Dot, but the damage was done.

"Trying to be a good big sister, I see," Hopper taunted as he continued backing away from her. He transferred Dot to his other upper hand and held her so she was centimeters from his face. Even though she knew he couldn't see her through it, it felt like that scarred gray eye was boring into her. She wrung her hands and tried to keep her bottom lip from trembling. _Be brave for Flik._

"What's your name, sweetheart?" Hopper asked her, in a tone much different than the one he used with Atta. It was like the way her mother spoke to the other children in the colony – playful and endearing. When he spoke like that, she could almost pretend he wasn't the monster who had bullied her sister and planned to squish her mom.

Almost.

"D-dot," she replied in a small voice.

" _Just_ Dot?" Hopper repeated, now taking on a more mocking tone. "Why, if you're Princess Atta's sister then that makes you a princess too, doesn't it?"

She nodded.

He brought her even closer to his face, so their noses were almost touching. "Do _you_ know whose idea the bird was, Princess Dot?" he asked, and now his voice sounded the way it had when he spoke to Atta for the first time – low and menacing.

Despite her whimpering, Dot bit her lip and shook her head. She wouldn't tell on her friend. She wouldn't.

Hopper sighed. "Loyalty runs in the royal family, I suppose," he lamented. His hand still clutched firmly around her waist, Hopper spread his arms wide as he addressed the crowd before them.

"Ladies and gentlebugs, I present to you a predicament. Both Princess Atta and Princess Dot here claim they don't know the identity of the ant – or _circus bug_ …" He emphasized these two words with disdain. "…who thought this whole bird thing would be a clever way to scare us off. Now, I need to know the identity of said bug, and I know someone who I think can help me with this predicament."

He snapped his fingers, and Dot heard a sound that had haunted her nightmares since the first time she heard it: Thumper's snarl.

The mad grasshopper lurched forward out of seemingly nowhere, his frayed leash the only thing separating Dot from those gleaming teeth. She screamed and twisted in Hopper's grasp as he began walking toward his pet, holding her out in front of him as though tempting him with a new toy. Thumper became even more frantic as they approached, salivating and straining at his leash.

In the background she could hear Atta begging Hopper to let Dot go and take her instead. She was even claiming to be the one who invented the bird, but it was too late for that. Hopper knew her well enough to know she would have confessed already if that had been the case. He was waiting for someone else to step forward and betray their fellow ant in order to save the little princess.

They were centimeters away from the beast: one more step and he could reach her himself. Dot couldn't hear the crowd's reaction as they watched the scene unfold before them, so loud was his growling. She couldn't hear anything until a new voice cut through the chaos, shocking everyone – even Thumper – into silence.

"Leave her alone, Hopper. The bird was my idea. I'm the one you want."

Flik stood beside the flaming wreckage of his bird, fists clenched and eyes narrowed. He was only inches from where Dot was suspended from Hopper's fingers. At first relief flooded her chest when she saw that her friend was okay, but then she heard a snap and Thumper pounced.


	3. Chapter 3

**Yes I am a terrible person but hopefully this is not a terrible update. A serious shoutout to all y'all who have consistently left reviews and private messaged me about this story because you are the ones who brought it back to life, forreal forreal. Love you from the bottom of my five-year-old heart.**

 **\- fbw**

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The beating was brutal, even by Thumper's standards. Hopper really couldn't blame him – the grasshopper had been waiting all day to get some action and here was his first opportunity to release all that pent-up energy. There had been his earlier pursuit of Dot, of course, but obviously that chase hadn't ended the way Thumper seemed to think it had. Hopper had seen the shock on his pet's face when the young princess came crawling out of the wreckage, which was part of the reason he had chosen her out of all the other sniveling little ants to use as a bartering tool.

That, and also deep down Hopper already had an inkling of an idea about who the mastermind behind the bird had been. The same meddling ant who had stuck up for the princess the first time Hopper had dangled her in front of his pet, the only one out of hundreds who had dared to step out of line and utter those three words that had changed everything.

 _Leave her alone._

That was moment that made Hopper realize it was time to crack down harder on the ants that had served him and his gang without question until that point. Before that moment the grasshoppers had begun to grow lazy, showing up to Ant Island once a year just long enough to enjoy a few seeds and admire the view before gathering up the remainder of the ants' offering and returning to their sombrero. They hadn't even bothered entering the Anthill for years.

In fact, the last time Hopper had seen Atta before then was when she was only a couple years older than Dot was now. She was a sharp-tongued, spindly thing, the leaf crown she wore both literally _and_ figuratively too big for her head. She hadn't changed much since then, other than sprouting a few inches and growing into those long limbs of hers. Her tongue had somewhat dulled and she seemed more timid than before, which he figured was a result of the burden that came with leadership. Hopper would know, although his own experience had had the opposite effect on him.

On the other hand, Hopper hadn't even known the Queen had a second daughter until he saw her cowering behind her mother's legs the day his gang broke into the Anthill. She had been an easy target to pick on once Thumper came into the picture, practically delivering herself into his waiting hand. From what Hopper knew of the ants, he hadn't expected any of them to challenge him – even as their beloved princess sat whimpering in his palm while he carried her towards his frenzied pet.

It had almost been a pleasant surprise when one of them did, but it had also been a wakeup call to squash the rebellion before it began.

Which was exactly what he was doing now. Hopper enjoyed the gasps he heard from the crowd with each blow Flik received, the way they cringed at the sight of their fearless leader being pummeled to a pulp but did nothing to stop it. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Dot shielding her face with her hands, no doubt horrified by the punishment her hero was taking on her behalf. Hopper knew that if he let him, Thumper wouldn't hesitate to beat the ant to death.

However, that wasn't his intention.

He snapped his fingers and the brutality ceased as quickly as it had begun. Thumper turned to him, nostrils flaring, and his crazed eyes landed on the tiny ant in Hopper's hand. Hopper felt the girl tense with fear and lifted her up so one of her curled antennae was right next to his mouth.

"Still don't like Thumper?" he whispered. She flinched and he released his fingers from around her scalp, causing Thumper to bound forward excitedly.

Dot shrieked and scrambled backwards, but Hopper held his hand out to halt the grasshopper before he could come any closer to the princess. Thumper whined and sat back on his haunches, expressing his irritation with an indignant snort. Chuckling, Hopper stepped over Dot and towards the other ant that was sprawled upon the dirt several feet away, ready to deal with him now.

Suddenly he heard a small buzz and felt something whiz past his head. Hopper watched in astonishment as Dot landed beside the ant's battered frame and cradled his head in her arms, her pale blue eyes glittering with tears.

"I'm sorry, Flik," Hopper heard her murmur to the ant as she stroked the side of his bruised face. Flik looked up at her through swollen eyelids, one of them a ghastly shade of purple, and gave her a wobbly grin.

"It's okay, Princess," he replied, reaching up to clasp one of her hands in his own. Hopper's antennae twitched at the sound of ants and circus bugs speaking to one another in hushed tones, touched by the scene before them. Even the grasshoppers were exchanging skeptical looks with each other, amazed by the little bug's bravery in spite of the fact that Thumper stood snarling and stomping his feet only inches away from her.

It was time to put an end to both of their antics. "Oh, how sweet," Hopper exclaimed mockingly, clasping his own hands together and taking another step forward. The princess sprang to her feet, glaring at him with a surprising ferocity for someone her size.

"You leave him alone!" she ordered, pointing a trembling finger at him. Hopper froze. The other grasshoppers shifted uncomfortably. Atta and the Queen both gasped.

 _Leave him alone._ Those three words ignited a rage within him that he hadn't known was there. One defiant ant alone was one too many.

Hopper rolled his eyes, careful to maintain a bored expression so the audience would know she was a nuisance, not a threat. "You're cute, sweetheart, but I'm done playing games now," he sighed, flicking his wrist for emphasis. Immediately a bulky, grayish-green grasshopper named Carlos flew forward and snatched Dot up from behind.

The princess protested and put up a valiant fight at first, and Carlos actually seemed to be struggling to keep her in his grasp. However, she quickly became subdued once he strategically placed himself only one grasshopper away from Thumper.

Hopper smirked and returned his full attention to Flik, advancing on him without interruption this time. "Where do you get the _gall_ to do this to me?" he demanded, his tone now devoid of any humor.

Flik barely managed to lift his head to answer him. "You… you were gonna squish the Queen," he replied, loudly enough for everyone to hear.

The entire colony inhaled in unison. Hopper turned to see Atta's face grow pale and slack-jawed, her mother's expression an exact replica. Only the Queen's younger daughter and the circus bugs looked utterly unfazed by Flik's revelation.

"It's true," Dot piped up, but she was silenced by a sharp growl from Thumper.

Hopper rolled his eyes again. "I hate it when someone gives away the ending," he muttered, snapping his fingers for dramatic effect. Right on cue Thumper delivered another kick to Flik's side, sending the ant's limp body skidding even further across the soil.

"You piece of dirt," Hopper spat, then corrected himself. "No, I'm wrong. You're lower than dirt. You're an _ant_."

Flik blinked at the insult, his eyelids nearly black by now. This was the moment that mattered – the moment Hopper would remind both ants _and_ circus bugs where their places were. He swiveled so he was facing the crowd, smiling inwardly at their round eyes and quivering knees.

"Let this be a lesson to _all_ you ants," he announced, strolling alongside the mass of trembling blue and gray bodies. "Ideas are very dangerous things. You are mindless, soil-shoving _losers_ …" He made sure to put extra emphasis on this last word. "…Put on this earth to serve _us_."

A glorious moment of silence followed. Hopper could see his words sinking into the bugs' thick skulls, their eyes lowering in defeat as they came to terms with their own inferiority. Perhaps this was all it took to jog their memories: a merciless public beating of the ant that had inspired their attempted revolution. He wouldn't even have to squish their queen. He and his boys could pack up what little of their pathetic offering remained and call it quits until next year, when the amount of food awaiting them would surely be the biggest yet.

Hopper was just about to give his gang the signal to leave when a hoarse voice from behind interrupted his plan.

"You're wrong, Hopper."

 _It can't be._ He slowly turned to watch in disbelief as Flik struggled to stand. Although he grunted with pain throughout the process and nearly collapsed a couple of times, the ant finally made it to his feet. Once upright, Flik took a deep breath and fixed Hopper with an intense scowl.

"Ants are not meant to serve grasshoppers," he said simply.

Hoper felt his fists clench and his upper lip twitch with suppressed fury. He began striding towards the foolish ant, daring him to continue with his deadly gaze.

Flik accepted the challenge. "I've seen these ants do great things," he continued, clenching his own fists. "And year after year, they somehow manage to pick food for themselves _and_ you."

Every word from Flik's mouth sent sharp bolts of anger through Hopper's spine, bringing every nerve in his body to life with rekindled rage. Behind him the makeshift bird continued to burn, its flames reflected in the ant's eyes. Hopper could feel the heat on his own skin growing with each step he took, though he knew it wasn't all from the fire.

"So… so who's the weaker species?" Flik demanded, his chest heaving with passion as well as the effort it took to speak with what were probably shattered ribs. "Ants don't serve grasshoppers! It's _you_ who need _us_!"

Hopper could sense the waves of shock that resonated through the crowd with this claim. Then, he heard it: the mumbles, the whispers, the turning of a new leaf of thought as the ants began to process Flik's words, began to look around and realize for the first time just how many of them there were and just how few grasshoppers there were.

The seed had been planted. The idea had taken root.

It was too late to stop it. Hopper felt his jaw unhinge, suddenly lost for words. Flik noticed the change in his expression and pounced upon it.

"We're a lot stronger than you say we are," he declared. Then, with his voice soft and eyes narrowed, he asked a question that caught Hopper completely off guard. "And you know it, don't you?"

Not a question. A statement. A fact.

An accusation.

The anger reached its peak. Hopper drew his arm back and swung, his hand connecting with the side of Flik's skull. The ant dropped to the ground and stayed there, his feeble attempt to rise cut short by the pressure of Hopper's large foot against his head. Once he was sure Flik was down for good, Hopper lifted his leg high into the air.

"No!" Dot cried, wriggling in Carlos's arms. The grasshopper tightened his grip and clamped a hand over her mouth to quiet her. The rest of the insects were stunned into silence at what was about to happen.

A wicked grin spread across Hopper's face. This would show them. This would show all of them.

He brought his foot down.


	4. Chapter 4

**Many thanks to those of you who are faithfully following, favoriting, and reviewing even though I have not been faithfully updating. You guys are stellar and I love you more than words can express. To Sam Fraser (the anon who asked about the concept art that inspired this story), I unfortunately cannot find it online but will at some point take a picture of the page it's on in the ABL art book I own and upload it somewhere so you can see it. I'm kind of holding off on that for now because I don't want to ruin the ending ;)**

 **Anyway, I recently read back over this story and was appalled at the quality of writing in some areas. T_T Hopefully this chapter will make up for it because I'm pretty pumped about it and y'all deserve only the best. I'm thinking there will be threeish more chapters after this, so be on the lookout for the next one in the near future (aka not half a year from now, which has been the trend thus far...) Please continue letting me know your thoughts because I absolutely love hearing them!**

 **Peace out, Blueberry Scouts~**

 **-fbw**

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She was staring up at the sole of a foot larger than her head. For a heartbeat it was suspended in mid-air, frozen in time like everything else in that moment. Atta could feel tension radiating from the hundreds of insects around them as they waited to see if Hopper would really do it. After all, the next best thing to squishing the Queen would be squishing the princess next in line.

His heel grazed her nose and for a second she was sure this was it – this was how it would end for her and Flik. Then he lowered his leg back down and planted his foot on the ground, toe tapping the dirt with irritation. Atta swallowed audibly and steadied herself as best she could, then mustered up every droplet of courage within her to fix Hopper with a deadly scowl.

 _You have to go through me to get to him._

Everyone around them breathed a unanimous sigh of relief. Even some members of Hopper's gang appeared glad that he hadn't gone through with it, especially his flaky brother. Atta could see him clutching his heart beside the grasshopper holding Dot. Although she didn't appear to be in immediate danger like Flik, all Atta wanted to do was fly over there and pry her little sister from the bastard's arms. That would be her next priority.

"Well . . ." Hopper sneered, yanking her attention back to the matter at hand. The venom in his eyes betrayed the grin on his face as he took a step forward, forcing her to take one back. "Princess."

Atta dug her fingers into her palms and gritted her teeth behind her lips, braced for whatever came next. Heat from the flames behind Hopper seemed to singe her skin. The grasshopper's good eye glinted as he raised his foot again.

"Uh, Hopper, I – I hate to interrupt but . . ."

Hopper turned at the sound of Molt's stammer and Atta watched as his expression went from annoyance to amazement. Throughout the course of Flik's speech, the ants had slowly changed from a trembling mass of blue and gray into a colony unified in the hidden strength of which he had spoken. They were many, but they were also one. Flik's words had ignited a spark within each of them that was engulfing their hearts like the fire was consuming the bird— _their_ bird, the bird they had spent months building alongside pretend warriors who had turned out to be the truest fighters Atta had ever known. The bugs' hard work may have been burning to the ground, but their spirits were being refined by the flames.

Smugness bloomed in the princess's chest as Hopper scrambled to recover from his shock, resuming his military stance. "You ants stay back!" he ordered, thrusting a finger at them for emphasis.

The colony's response made Atta's eyes well with tears of pride. Rather than obey Hopper's command, every single member of the crowd—harvester, council member, queen, child, and circus bug alike—linked arms and took a step forward. Atta watched as row upon row of her beloved subjects and friends moved forward in a wave of defiance, a direct challenge to the authority they had obeyed for too long.

Now it was the grasshoppers' turn to take a step, only for them it was backwards. Fear was written all over their faces as they backed away from the angry mass that threatened to burst like water from a dam at any moment. Atta heard Molt mutter something about a bad idea as he stumbled over his own two feet in his haste to get away. She recalled the day the gang had invaded Ant Island in the spring, breaking into the anthill and wreaking havoc among its terrified inhabitants. At one point Hopper had sat her down in front of her colony and talked to her like a condescending professor reviewing a basic lesson with his naïve student.

 _It's a bug-eat-bug world out there, Princess. One of those "Circle of Life" kinda things. Now let me tell you how things are_ supposed _to work. The sun grows the food, the ants pick the food, the grasshoppers eat the food . . ._

Atta had never felt less like a queen than she had in that moment. But as she looked out over the sea of narrowed eyes and joined elbows, an army awaiting the signal from their leader, she didn't feel like a queen or even a princess.

She felt like a warrior.

Atta was at eye level with Hopper before she even realized her feet had left the ground. He blinked up at her incredulously, the sudden turn of events rendering him speechless. She decided to fill in the silence.

"You see, Hopper, nature has a certain order. The ants pick the food, the ants _keep_ the food, and the grasshoppers . . ."

Here she flew forward so their noses were almost pressed together, relishing the flicker of fear in the bully's eyes as she uttered her final word.

". . . Leave."

And with that the dam broke. Hundreds upon hundreds of ants charged forward, arms raised and mouths open in an enraged battle cry. Within seconds over half of Hopper's gang had taken to the skies with their tails between their legs. The few that lingered looked frantically to their leader for assurance, but he was too busy calling after those who had fled.

"Where are you going?" he shouted after their retreating forms. "They're just ants!"

Within seconds of this reminder a stampede of said ants mowed him to the ground like dust beneath an earthworm. Figuring he wouldn't be getting up again anytime soon, Atta turned her attention to the ant that started it all. She reached down and gently grasped the part of his arm that looked the least bruised, helping him to his feet as quickly as she could without causing him further injury.

"I'm so proud of you, Flik," she whispered, slinging his arm over her shoulders and looping hers around his waist. It was the first time she had ever said those words to him, and even in his pain he managed to give her a grin that broke her heart.

Meanwhile chaos was ensuing all around them. Though most of the grasshoppers were nowhere to be found, Hopper included, the handful that stayed were half-heartedly fending off the ants' advances. While the ants' strength was simply in numbers, the circus bugs were finding clever ways to put their unique skills to use in combat. Slim camouflaged himself as a twig to trip two grasshoppers as they ran, then summoned Rosie to bind them with her silk before they could escape. Gypsy flaunted her mesmerizing wings and Manny summoned hypnotic powers from beyond to distract the tougher grasshoppers until Heimlich and Francis came to the rescue, wielding toothpick swords they had salvaged from P.T. Flea's wagon. Tuck and Roll simply barreled about the battle scene in tight little balls, carefully avoiding the good guys and knocking the bad ones down like bowling pins. Dim was a force to be reckoned with all his own—all it took was one mighty roar to send even Thumper flying.

Though she observed all of this with a smile, Atta suddenly noticed with a stab of fear that the sky had turned a menacing black and the air was growing heavy with the feel of oncoming rain. If the bugs didn't seek shelter soon, they could all very well drown before the battle was over. Atta's eyes sought her mother, wanting the Queen's approval before giving the executive order to retreat. She doubted the scattered few grasshoppers that remained would be much of a threat at this point, especially with Thumper being gone . . .

 _Thumper._

Atta's heart clenched with horror. "Flik!" she cried. "Have you seen . . ."

 _"Dot!"_

She spun to see her mother hobbling towards her, Aphie cowering in the crook of her elbow. There was panic in the Queen's eyes as she grabbed Atta's outstretched hands, drawing several sharp breaths before asking the question in both their minds.

"Where's my baby?"

Before she could answer, Atta felt Flik's body jolt against hers. "There!" he shouted as the first bolt of lightning pierced the sky above them. She followed the direction of his pointed finger past hordes of running ants until her gaze landed on a large green figure in the distance. It was the same grasshopper who had gotten hold of Dot after she stood up for Flik, and sure enough the little ant was still squirming in his arms.

Anger hotter than she had ever felt before flared inside of Atta. She transferred Flik to the care of her mother and then took off after the grasshopper, wings beating furiously behind her as she flew over the heads of colony members who had sensed the coming storm and were making a mad dash for the anthill. Everyone besides Flik and her mother seemed oblivious to the fact that their youngest princess was being carried off to who knows where, the smell of rain sending them into a senseless frenzy. Only the circus bugs remained calm amidst the madness, assisting the council members in taking a head count as the ants hurried underground.

Atta was within a foot of him when she realized where he was taking her sister and felt her heart plummet to the pit of her stomach. At some point Hopper had slipped away unnoticed and hidden himself in a clump of grass near the still blazing bird, probably hoping to scan the crowd for Flik from a safe distance. He had yet to notice the gang member running towards him with his hostage, which worked to Atta's advantage.

"Put her _down!_ " she shrieked as she came within earshot of the grasshopper. Dot's antennae perked at the sound of her voice, and she managed to wrench her mouth free of the hand still clamped over it just long enough to cry out her sister's name. Her captor cast a backwards glance at Atta and quickened his pace.

"Boss!" he shouted, gaining Hopper's attention. "I still got the kid!"

Hopper's good eye lit up at this unexpected twist. "Give her to me!" he ordered, extending an arm towards them.

"NO!"Atta screamed, still too far away. Hopper swiveled his head and flashed her a smirk that curdled her insides and gave her an impossible burst of speed. _Don't you dare touch her, you monster._

The other grasshopper saw that she was quickly closing the space between them. Frightened she would reach him before he got to Hopper, he decided to throw Dot to his boss. The little princess somersaulted through the air and stopped short just beyond Hopper's grasp as her own wings sprang to life.

"You _idiot!_ " Hopper snarled at the dumbfounded grasshopper as Dot soared away from them and towards her sister's outstretched arms. She crashed into Atta with a triumphant giggle just as a high-pitched whistle filled the air around them.

There was a deafening explosion and then Atta was flat on her back, gazing at the stormy sky through blurry eyes. Her antennae rang as she tried in vain to regain the breath that had been knocked from her lungs. She was soaked from head to toe with beads of water so heavy they pinned her body to the ground, but she managed to lift her throbbing head just high enough to see the large glob of water in front of her.

It took her a second to recognize the light purple figure inside of it.

"Dot . . ." Atta moaned, trying and failing to lift her waterlogged limbs. Her sister stared back at her with panicked eyes, tiny fists beating in vain against her prison as bombs of water landed all around them. A towering form emerged from the darkness behind her, his features illuminated by the streaks of lightning above them—six limbs, countless spikes, one scarred eye.

Atta's lungs were still too weak for her to yell for help as she watched Hopper stroll up to the raindrop encasing her sister. He crouched down and observed with mock concern as she pushed against the wall of water with all her might, unaware of his presence.

"Hello again, Princess," he greeted her with a soft chuckle. "Are you stuck in there?"

Dot whirled around and shrank away from the distorted reflection of Hopper's face surrounding her. With one quick tap of his finger the dome around her burst, sending the princess tumbling backwards. She picked herself up from the ground and leaped in an attempt to fly, but her wings were weighed down by water and she remained earthbound. Her terrified blue eyes met Atta's just as Hopper's hand closed around her scalp.

Through the ringing in her antennae Atta thought she could hear the thrum of Dim's wings coming closer, but it wasn't fast enough. She summoned every ounce of strength left in her for one last, desperate plea. The words came between gasps.

"Hopper, please . . . leave—my sister—alone."

Tears brimmed in Dot's eyes and mud dripped from her ankles as Hopper lifted her easily into the air. His lips stretched wide in a cruel smile as his own wings roared to life. "If you want her, come and take her," he said.

Then he shot into the sky.


	5. Chapter 5

**I am so sorry for the unsatisfying length of this chapter, but I'm not sure how soon I'll be able to update what with upcoming Christmas shenanigans and I wanted to give you guys a little something to hold you over 'til the next one. Please continue to leave your thoughts, theories, (constructive) criticisms, etc. - they really are what keep me going! Love you bugaboos and hope you all have safe and happy holidays :)**

 **-fbw**

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The storm was intensifying by the second, making it harder and harder for Hopper to navigate the raindrops hurtling to earth all around them. In his lower arms he clutched the princess, one hand pressing her to his thorax and the other cupped over her head to shield her from the elements. Surprisingly, she hadn't yet made any effort to get him to let go. Her tiny body was rigid except for an occasional tremor that he credited to the late summer wind whistling around them.

Hopper ducked his head to see Dot curled up like a purple pill bug in his hand, tiny fingers splayed against his stomach, and he felt a stab of pity. She may have been a brat, but he never intended to drag a child into this dung heap. Sure, he had threatened to feed her to Thumper a couple of times, but in his heart of hearts Hopper would never let actual harm come to the kid. Those moments had merely been for show: nothing more than an intimidation tactic, a reminder to the colony of their utter cowardice as they witnessed the mistreatment of their own royalty without a word of protest.

Except there had been a word of protest. Three, to be exact, spoken twice by the same damn ant.

 _Leave her alone._

Hopper's eyes narrowed at the thought of the troublemaker who had made what should have been a routine trip to Ant Island a messy and complicated ordeal. Atta and her little sister had spunk, but spunk could easily be crushed underfoot with the right amount of pressure. Flik had ideas, and ideas were much harder to kill once they'd been planted. The queen's life may have been spared thanks to the scheming ant and his horde of circus friends, but Hopper knew now that he would have to snuff out the rebellion at its root.

Princess Dot, once again, was just a pawn.

They were entering the thick tangle of tree branches now, which provided a small amount of shelter from the rain. Hopper slowed his wings and allowed himself to hover for a moment, scanning the empty air beneath his feet for any sign of Flik or Atta. He had no doubt they would come for Dot once the latter recovered the breath that had been struck from her body by that convenient drop of rain, but he had to give them a fair chance to catch up. Then the real game would begin.

"We're not picking any more food for you, you know."

Hopper blinked down at his young hostage, bewildered by her sudden ferocity. She glared back at him, her arms crossed and her lower lip jutting defiantly. There was only the faintest of quivers in her voice when she spoke again. "No matter what happens, we won't pick food for you grasshoppers anymore. We know better. Flik taught us that."

 _Flik taught us that._ Hopper's eyes narrowed into slits as a familiar sense of rage swelled in his chest and pounded in his temple. Dot was only a child, yes, but that meant her mind was still malleable. He thought of all the other ants her age that had come streaming out of the fake bird's beak after it crashed, at least a dozen more minds that Flik had tainted with his speech about the colony's strength in size and unity. The older ants who had grown up under the grasshoppers' rule could probably be bullied back into submission once Flik was gone, but the younger ones would be much harder to mend now that they had been exposed to the radical thought of freedom. And this ant would one day be their queen.

Hopper lifted the hand holding Dot and squeezed just enough to make her squirm with discomfort as he gazed coolly into her eyes, noticing for the first time they were the same color as Flik's. "What did you say, Princess?" he asked, his voice close to a whisper.

At that moment a raindrop exploded against the branch that arched above his head, showering both of them with freezing bits of water. A flash of lightning illuminated the fear Dot had hidden behind her brave words, scrawled across her face like the freckles on her nose. Hopper chuckled darkly. She wasn't scared of him, she was petrified.

"That's what I thought."


	6. Chapter 6

**Apologies yet again for the super long wait and super short length of this chapter, but I PROMISE the next one will come much sooner and be much better than this one. Just wanted to give you guys a little something to let you know I haven't forgotten you or this story. ;)**

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Flik clung to the crown of Dim's head as air whizzed by and water crashed to the earth on either side of him. After Atta left him with the queen, the two had watched everything unfold in slow motion: Hopper emerging from behind a blade of grass. Dot's triumphant moment of flight after being thrown by the gang member. The sweet embrace between the royal sisters before a huge raindrop fell from the heavens and cut their reunion short, imprisoning one and knocking the breath from the other.

Within seconds of this unexpected twist Flik had immediately summoned the help of his beetle friend, who hurried to his side after depositing the remaining Blueberries safely into the anthill. The queen had wanted to go with them, but Flik convinced her to stay with Manny and Gypsy. The colony would be in shambles if something happened to all three members of the monarchy in one night.

Even with Dim flying faster than any ant or grasshopper combined, Hopper still got to Dot first. Flik could hear her screaming his name over Dim's roar, the sound growing fainter and fainter as the distance between them grew. It splintered his heart.

"Don't you hurt her!" Dim snarled after Hopper as he came to a halt. The gentle giant had a particularly soft spot in his heart for Dot, and Flik could almost feel the red-hot rage boiling beneath his blue shell. It was the same anger Flik himself had felt the first time Hopper bullied the princess, when the courage he needed to step out of line was awoken by his friend's frightened whimpers. The three words that rolled off his tongue were _leave her alone_ , but what he had really wanted to say was something more like _pick on someone your own size, you scumbag._

"What are we waiting for, Flik?"

Flik knew Dim would charge after Hopper as soon as he gave the word, but he also knew that another ant needed him just as much as Dot did. His eyes landed where Atta lay only a leaf's length away from them, her eyes shut tight and her chest heaving updown, updown, updown. She didn't so much as flinch when a fat raindrop splattered centimeters from her head.

"Hang on, big guy!" Flik shouted, grabbing one of Dim's massive antennae and lowering himself to the ground with it. "First Atta, then Dot. I promise you Hopper won't do anything until he sees me. I'm the one he's after."

His feet touched dirt and then he was running towards Atta, thunder rumbling in rhythm with his steps. Along the way he found himself hurdling over what looked like soggy, crumpled up leaves, and it wasn't until he was by the princess's side that his mind registered what they were.

Feathers. Real ones.

This meant one of two things: either they had blown here from the other side of the island, or the bird herself was somewhere nearby. Flik's eyes flitted to the pathetic mass of leaves and twigs that had been the colony's attempt at recreating the beast. Imitation was a form of flattery, but somehow he didn't think she would see it that way. Was that a screech in the distance or just the wind whistling through bare branches? Could Hopper sense her presence too, or was his fear dulled by his fury?

And if the real bird was out there somewhere, how long would it be before she found them?


End file.
